Turkish Columnists Initiate Petition Against Erdogan

An online petition was initiated by a group of Turkish columnists in protest against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who said media bosses should control their columnists at a meeting of his party’s provincial chairpersons last week, reports Turkish news source Today’s Zaman.

Erdoğan frequently complains about the way some columnists write about his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, and last week, he directed criticism toward columnists and warned newspaper bosses to control them as he said they cause tension in the country.

The petition on the blog kontrolsuzkoseyazarlari.wordpress.com includes names of columnists from such well-known Turkish media as Today’s Zaman, Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review, Bugun, Vatan, Yeni Safak, Radikal, Taraf, Cumhuriet, among others. Etyen Mahçupyan, chief editor of Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, has also signed his name to the list.
The declaration published on the blog reads:

“We, the undersigned columnists, think that the statement by Prime Minister Erdoğan, saying newspaper bosses must control their columnists, is against the freedom of the press, to which we owe our existence, and generally against the ideal of a ‘democratic Turkey,’ and we protest this statement.”